Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Church of Greece split over role of neofascist Golden Dawn party | News | ekathimerini.com

Church of Greece split over role of neofascist Golden Dawn party | News | ekathimerini.com:

Meanwhile, other leading clerics, spearheaded by Bishop Amvrosios of Kalavryta and Bishop Seraphim of Piraeus, have made no secret of their support for Golden Dawn.

Seraphim has often spoken out in public against Jews and homosexuals. For his part, Amvrosios recently called on Golden Dawn officials to change their style so as to boost their ratings.

Monday, December 12, 2016

The Most Politically Dangerous Book You’ve Never Heard Of - POLITICO Magazine

The Most Politically Dangerous Book You’ve Never Heard Of - POLITICO Magazine:

A congressional inquiry placed the blame for the 2008 financial crisis squarely at Greenspan’s feet, and, under questioning by members of the House, Greenspan admitted that there must have been “a flaw” in his Randian worldview.

A flaw, yes, but where did it really come from?

The answer will surprise even the most avid Rand fans. The fundamental idea underlying her objectivism was a twin ideology known as rational egoism—the belief that rational action always maximizes self-interest. And Rand, who wielded the phrase “second-hander” as a cudgel against her enemies, had herself borrowed this idea from the scribblings of her countryman, a Russian writer named Nikolai Chernyshevsky, whose 1863 utopian novel, though critically mocked, became an inspiration for Rand’s generation of the early 1900s.

Sunday, December 11, 2016

Linking Global Voices

Linking Global Voices:

Linking Global Voices serves the global missions community by focusing on the unique role of networks.

We live in an unprecedented period of mission history. The new paradigm of “from anywhere to everywhere” is by nature complex, resulting in an increasing need to partner with others for effective ministry. Networks are a strategic tool for ministry leaders navigating the complexities of the globalized world of missions. Mission minded churches and agencies are developing their "network engagement strategy". Healthy networks facilitate the sharing of resources and are constantly birthing partnerships.

Tuesday, December 06, 2016

It's Indian Everyday: What are Biryani, Pulao and Tehri

It's Indian Everyday: What are Biryani, Pulao and Tehri:

In Biryani, boath the meat/vegetables and rice are cooked separately and then they are layered and baked during cooking. The process also lives up to the name Biryani in Persian meaning 'fry before cooking'.

In Pulao, the 'meat/vegetables and rice are stirred' before cooking and both are cooked together without any layer formation.

Tehri is a vegetarian dish prepared by cooking rice with potatoes. Other vegetables may also be added to it. It is common in Uttar Pradesh, India.

Monday, December 05, 2016

The Ego and the Universe: Alan Watts on Becoming Who You Really Are – Brain Pickings

The Ego and the Universe: Alan Watts on Becoming Who You Really Are – Brain Pickings:

Watts uses the phrase “little boxes made of ticky-tacky” to describe the homogenizing and perilous effect of the American quest for dominance over “nature , space, mountains, deserts, bacteria, and insects instead of learning to cooperate with them in a harmonious order.” The following year, Malvina Reynolds used the phrase in the lyrics to her song “Little Boxes”, which satirizes suburbia and the development of the middle class. The song became a hit for Pete Seeger in 1963 and was used by Showtime as the opening credits score for the first three seasons of Jenji Kohan’s Weeds.

Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Pastor who fed grass to his congregation explains himself | DESTINY MAN

Pastor who fed grass to his congregation explains himself | DESTINY MAN:

A Pretoria pastor who made his congregation eat grass and drink petrol has explained the reasons behind his actions

Over the past few weeks the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (the CRL Rights Commission) has been investigating the commercialisation of churches and questionable practices and claims by a number of church leaders.

Yesterday the commission was less than impressed with Rabboni Centre Ministries’ pastor Lesego Daniel’s explanation of why he made his congregants eat grass and drink petrol.

Pastor Lesego 'cooks' Mpumalanga man | The Citizen

Pastor Lesego 'cooks' Mpumalanga man | The Citizen:

With the spotlight on self-proclaimed Pastors, a controversial “Man of God” has claimed that he “cooked” one of his congregants.

A day after the Economic Freedom Fighters torched the tent of a pastor who fed live rodents and snakes to his congregants, Pastor Lesego Daniel of Rabboni Centre Ministries, claimed to have “cooked”a church member.

Infamous for making his congregants drink petrol, Daniel said he “cooked” Charles Tema, a 20-year-old Mpumalanga man, who aspires to be like the pastor.

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

David Lindsay: �Venceremos!

David Lindsay: Venceremos!:

I do not deny the problems with human rights in Cuba, any more than I deny the ghastliness of the "exiles" in Miami who aspire to turn the place back into the giant drug den and brothel depicted in The Godfather Part II.

A government that is allied to Saudi Arabia is not entitled to criticise the human rights record of any other country apart from North Korea. The reverse would also hold.

Obama drone casualty numbers a fraction of those recorded by the Bureau - The Bureau of Investigative Journalism

Obama drone casualty numbers a fraction of those recorded by the Bureau - The Bureau of Investigative Journalism:

The US government today claimed it has killed between 64 and 116 “non-combatants” in 473 counter-terrorism strikes in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and Libya between January 2009 and the end of 2015.

This is a fraction of the 380 to 801 civilian casualty range recorded by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism from reports by local and international journalists, NGO investigators, leaked government documents, court papers and the result of field investigations.

While the number of civilian casualties recorded by the Bureau is six times higher than the US Government’s figure, the assessments of the minimum total number of people killed were strikingly similar. The White House put this figure at 2,436, whilst the Bureau has recorded 2,753.

Monday, November 28, 2016

Fidel, the Real Deal | Daily Maverick

Fidel, the Real Deal | Daily Maverick:

Proof of Fidel Castro’s impact in speeding up the end of white minority rule in southern Africa emerged from a 1976 intelligence briefing by then CIA director George H.W. Bush to the US president, Gerald Ford: “It is the intelligence community’s prediction that Cuban troops will be involved in Rhodesia before the end of 1976” – three months away.

How the Cuban revolution failed

How the Cuban revolution failed:
When Fidel Castro and Che Guevara rode victoriously into Havana sitting atop a tank and smoking cigars, the Cuban masses rejoiced. The banks were immediately nationalized, the casinos were shut down, prostitution was eradicated, and the national resources that had previously been siphoned off by America were now restored to the control of the Cuban populous. Socialism had prevailed. The poor were liberated. The power of the people had overcome the oppression of the American capitalist machine. At least that’s what the people were initially led to believe.
But the socialist revolution quickly turned into a communist nightmare. And it did so almost overnight. Fidel and Che immediately let it be known that they were not at all interested in democratic socialism. Atheistic communism is what they espoused, and Batista’s capitalist backed dictatorship would now be fully and thoroughly replaced by a repressive communist dictatorship. And when those who fought side by side with Fidel and Che - and who suffered and bled for the revolutionary democratic socialist ideal - dared to oppose the hard and drastic communist turn that Fidel and Che took, they were either executed or imprisoned.

Sunday, November 27, 2016

The Personality of Political Correctness - Scientific American Blog Network

The Personality of Political Correctness - Scientific American Blog Network:
The researchers found that PC exists, can be reliably measured, and has two major dimensions. They labeled the first dimension "PC-Egalitarianism" and the second dimension "PC-Authoritarianism". Interestingly, they found that PC is not a purely left-wing phenomenon, but is better understood as the manifestation of a general offense sensitivity, which is then employed for either liberal or conservative ends.

Thursday, November 24, 2016

Shipwrecked camera discovered underwater after 2 years with photos intact ...

Shipwrecked camera discovered underwater after 2 years with photos intact ...:

In a truly remarkable resolution to a lost-and-found story, a digital camera that was lost after a shipwreck in 2012 was found with the photographs intact last year near Vancouver Island.

In 2012, Paul Burgoyne had been on a journey from Vancouver to Tahsis in British Columbia on his nine-metre boat Bootlegger when it was wrecked.

Burgoyne had been rescued, but the camera with several irreplaceable photographs were lost to the sea.

How to tell if your neighbors are stealing your Wi-Fi

How to tell if your neighbors are stealing your Wi-Fi:

The first sign that your Wi-Fi network has been compromised will probably be a general decrease in internet speeds. The more people connected to your network, the more problems you will have loading webpages or streaming videos

If you notice anything strange happening on your network, you must investigate. The first thing to check will be the Wi-Fi router itself.

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Was Darwinism Banned from Nazi Germany? - Evolution News & Views

Was Darwinism Banned from Nazi Germany? - Evolution News & Views: universities embraced Darwinism before the Nazis came to power, but the Nazi regime continued to appoint Darwinists to biology and anthropology professorships. Karl Astel, whom the Nazis appointed professor of human genetics and later promoted to rector (equivalent of president) of the University of Jena, was an avid Darwinist. He was also an SS officer who wanted to turn the University of Jena into a fully Nazified university. In order to accomplish this goal, he received Himmler's help in recruiting the biologist and SS officer Gerhard Heberer as a professor of human evolution at the University of Jena. Nazis appointed many other Darwinian biologists and anthropologists to professorships, too.

Sunday, November 13, 2016

Malcolm Gladwell: The reason people dislike Hillary Clinton is simple — she’s a woman

Malcolm Gladwell: The reason people dislike Hillary Clinton is simple — she’s a woman: Hillary Clinton's unpopularity boils down to one issue, journalist Malcolm Gladwell says in an interview with CBC News: Sexism.

"She's a woman," the best-selling author and staff writer for The New Yorker explains.

"People had a preexisting mental notion of what a female candidate would look like, and she doesn't look like it. She is being penalized for having a series of traits that people find unacceptable in a woman."

Friday, November 11, 2016

The Big Split

The Big Split: The utter indifference of the DNC to the suffering of vast chunks of the U.S., and the indifference of the smug supporters of Hillary who stigmatized and tried to shame third party candidates and those voting for them, came back to haunt them. They couldn’t imagine why everyone didn’t support their privilege. The logic of lesser evilism became an accusatory intolerance with opinion differing from their own. That they seemed more concerned with Trump’s pussy remarks than with Clinton’s cackling at her orchestrated assassination of Qadaffi, or her planned coup in Honduras, or the CIA led fascist coup in Ukraine began to be noticed. Many people who voted for Trump did so not because they like Trump, but because they fucking hated the privileged white bourgeoisie that was constantly scolding them and ridiculing them.

Thursday, November 03, 2016

The Political Compass -- US Election 2016

The Political Compass:



Despite most polls indicating that Bernie Sanders would fare significantly better than Clinton against Trump, the party clearly wanted Hillary. This surely suggests that when push comes to shove, the Democratic establishment would prefer Hillary to lose the presidency than Sanders to win it.

Sunday, September 18, 2016

They lied about Iraq and Libya: Do you trust them now about Russia? -- Puppet Masters -- Sott.net

They lied about Iraq and Libya: Do you trust them now about Russia? -- Puppet Masters -- Sott.net: Just as President George W. Bush deceptively painted Hussein's supposed WMD as a danger to Americans and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton dishonestly portrayed Gaddafi as "genocidal," U.S. officials and pundits are depicting Putin as some cartoonish villain or some new Hitler.

And, just as The New York Times, Washington Post and other mainstream media outlets amplified the Iraq and Libyan propaganda to the American people - rather than questioning and challenging it - these supposedly journalistic entities are performing the same function regarding Russia. The chief difference is that now we're talking about the potential for nuclear annihilation. [See Consortiumnews.com's "The Existential Madness of Putin-Bashing."]

Friday, September 02, 2016

Andrew Bacevich: 'Christian realism' for foreign affairs | NewBostonPost

Andrew Bacevich: 'Christian realism' for foreign affairs | NewBostonPost: Describe your approach to foreign policy.

Andrew Bacevich: If I had to assign myself a label I would call myself a ‘Christian realist.’ Christian realism is a foreign policy perspective that originated with Reinhold Niebuhr, the famous moral theologian and public intellectual who was really a titanic figure on the American scene from the 1930s into the 1960s. The essence of Christian realism—which is very much at odds with anything that smacks of utopianism—is to appreciate that there is evil in the world to which we must respond but also to appreciate that our own motives are likely to be less pure than we may fancy them to be. It’s not simply that the motives of the other guys are suspect but we ourselves should always be mindful of the extent to which our own motives [may] be subject to question. That’s the outlook that I tend to adhere to when I look at the world and the way it works.

Thursday, September 01, 2016

How Facebook’s news feed algorithm works.

How Facebook’s news feed algorithm works.: And yet, for all its power, Facebook’s news feed algorithm is surprisingly inelegant, maddeningly mercurial, and stubbornly opaque. It remains as likely as not to serve us posts we find trivial, irritating, misleading, or just plain boring. And Facebook knows it.

Thursday, August 18, 2016

IASC: The Hedgehog Review - Volume 17, No. 3 (Fall 2015) - We Have Never Been Disenchanted -

IASC: The Hedgehog Review - Volume 17, No. 3 (Fall 2015) - We Have Never Been Disenchanted -: The Hedgehog Review: Vol. 17 No. 3 (Fall 2015)
We Have Never Been Disenchanted
Eugene McCarraher
The Hedgehog Review
The Hedgehog Review: Fall 2015

(Volume 17 | Issue 3)

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“Beautiful demon of Money, what an enchanter thou art!”
—Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner, The Gilded Age

One of the stories modernity tells about itself is titled “The Disenchantment of the World.” Friedrich Schiller coined the phrase while lamenting the demise of the gods of Greek antiquity, but it was Max Weber who turned it into melancholy shorthand for the modern condition of secularity.1

Thursday, August 11, 2016

15 Hacks For A Water-Smart Garden - Hobby Farms

15 Hacks For A Water-Smart Garden - Hobby Farms: January 18, 2016

Drought is a cyclical part of life in the American West, and water conservation—no matter where you live—should be an ongoing concern of every savvy gardener. A well-designed, water-wise landscape that incorporates H2O-saving devices and techniques can still be a lush and inviting place without the water waste. Here are 15 tips to get you through the summer with minimal irrigation.

Tuesday, August 09, 2016

ANC not arrogant, self-serving, says Ramaphosa | IOL

ANC not arrogant, self-serving, says Ramaphosa | IOL: African National Congress deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday said, unlike what many South Africans think, his party was not an arrogant, self-serving political organisation.

“The ANC, as opposed to what many people may believe, they think we are arrogant, self-centered, self-serving and I would like like to dispute all that by saying we are a listening organisation,” Ramaphosa told a scrum of reporters at the ANC desk in the IEC’s results operations centre in Tshwane.

Monday, August 08, 2016

Email Marketing for Authors: Best practices for building, managing and measuring your email list - Written Word Media

Email Marketing for Authors: Best practices for building, managing and measuring your email list - Written Word Media: Back in our 10 Trends in Publishing Every Indie Author Needs to Know post this past January, we talked about the importance of email marketing for authors. That trend has stayed true throughout the first half of the year, and email marketing remains one of the most effective tactics for driving book sales. Are you ready to join in on the trend? Keep reading for a primer on email marketing for authors, and learn how you can use it as an effective tool to sell more books.

Monday, August 01, 2016

Slobodan Milosevic, 64, Former Yugoslav Leader Accused of War Crimes, Dies - The New York Times

Slobodan Milosevic, 64, Former Yugoslav Leader Accused of War Crimes, Dies - The New York Times: As he rose and then clung to power by resurrecting old nationalist grudges and inciting dreams of a Greater Serbia, Mr. Milosevic became the prime engineer of wars that pitted his fellow Serbs against the Slovenes, the Croats, the Bosnians, the Albanians of Kosovo and ultimately the combined forces of the entire NATO alliance.

By stirring a dormant but incendiary nationalism, he succeeded in rallying support for himself in the late 1980's, at a time when Communism in the rest of Eastern Europe was in its death throes.

E

Thursday, July 28, 2016

Hlaudi and the return to the Bantustan | City Press

Hlaudi and the return to the Bantustan | City Press: Watching the goings-on at the public broadcaster, it is hard not to see the similarities between those buffoonish tinpot dictators and the autocratic dolt who reigns supreme there.

The man with the Napoleon complex and bloodshot eyes, who sits at the helm of the SABC, is a perfect example of the perils of giving power to the feeble-minded.

What usually happens is, when dim-witted individuals are given a shot at power, they grab it with both hands and use it destructively.

The Secret Auden by Edward Mendelson | The New York Review of Books

The Secret Auden by Edward Mendelson | The New York Review of Books: By refusing to claim moral or personal authority, Auden placed himself firmly on one side of an argument that pervades the modern intellectual climate but is seldom explicitly stated, an argument about the nature of evil and those who commit it.

On one side are those who, like Auden, sense the furies hidden in themselves, evils they hope never to unleash, but which, they sometimes perceive, add force to their ordinary angers and resentments, especially those angers they prefer to think are righteous. On the other side are those who can say of themselves without irony, “I am a good person,” who perceive great evils only in other, evil people whose motives and actions are entirely different from their own. This view has dangerous consequences when a party or nation, having assured itself of its inherent goodness, assumes its actions are therefore justified, even when, in the eyes of everyone else, they seem murderous and oppressive.

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

| National Review

| National Review: Hillary Clinton believes that “religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed” to expand access to abortion.

Clinton said today that it’s not enough to legalize the procedure. “Far too many women are denied access to reproductive health care and safe childbirth, and laws don’t count for much if they’re not enforced,” she said Thursday, per the Daily Caller. “And deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed.”

Saturday, July 23, 2016

The Disenchanted World | Glory to God for All Things

The Disenchanted World | Glory to God for All Things: A very apt word for the world we live in is: disenchanted. It was first used by Max Weber and a number of others to describe a certain aspect of the modern world – the absence of the sacred. Where people of earlier eras and other cultures have experienced the world around them as charged with divine power (of various sorts), we simply experience the world as inert. There is nothing there.

The disenchanted world is doubtless a major source of modern atheism. When someone says they do not believe in God, they are quite likely simply relaying accurately how they perceive the world – that the world they see is simply disenchanted. This experience is captured by Tolkien in his hints of the end of Middle Earth. The “Elves are heading West,” leaving the world of Middle Earth. The Age of Elves is coming to an end and the Age of Men is beginning. There is something of a hint that with the Elves, the world of magic and wizardry is leaving as well. The new dangers will simply be the will and work of men rather than larger, darker forces.

About SouthFront

About SouthFront: SouthFront: Analysis & Intelligence is a public analytical project maintained by an independent team of experts from the four corners of the Earth focusing on international relations issues and crises and working through a number of media platforms with a special emphasis on social networks. We focus on analysis and intelligence of the ongoing crises and the biggest stories from around the world. The project provides military operations analysis, the military posture of major world powers, and other important data influencing the growth of tensions between countries and nations. We try to dig out the truth on issues which are barely covered by the states concerned and the mainstream media.

Stephen Greenblatt's The Swerve racked up prizes — and completely misled you about the Middle Ages - Vox

Stephen Greenblatt's The Swerve racked up prizes — and completely misled you about the Middle Ages - Vox: The Swerve doesn’t promote the humanities to a broader public so much as it deviously precipitates the decline of the humanities, by dumbing down the complexities of history and religion in a way that sets a deeply unfortunate precedent. If Greenblatt’s story resonates with its many readers, it is surely because it echoes stubborn, made-for-TV representations of medieval "barbarity" that have no business in a nonfiction book, much less one by a Harvard professor.

Scholars have spent the past several decades upending the old myths that the Middle Ages were intellectual stagnant, emotionally repressed, and merely masochistic. Unfortunately, The Swerve heartily embraces those myths. In its insistent representation of what Greenblatt wanted the past to be like, instead of what the evidence suggests, it exemplifies that dire trend of "truthy" nonfiction books that present One Theory to Explain Everything. It represents the importation of Malcolm Gladwell–esque yarn-spinning into the academy.

How a colonial blunder grew into a part of the War on Terror | Aeon Essays

How a colonial blunder grew into a part of the War on Terror | Aeon Essays: The Durand Line has consistently proven ineffective as the basis of territorial delineation between Afghanistan and Pakistan, its division of Pashtun tribal lands a point of contention to this day. As recently as May 2016, the portion of the line between Afghanistan and Pakistan at the Torkham checkpoint was shut down, stranding thousands of people and cargo trucks. Pakistani military forces installed barbed wire; Afghanistan, which does not recognise the legitimacy of the border, responded to this as a hostile act. Escalating tensions, well-known to either side, led to a shutdown of the Torkham border post. It was only after high level diplomatic meetings that the post could be opened again.

When will Labour’s tribal warfare come to an end? | Maya Goodfellow | Opinion | The Guardian

When will Labour’s tribal warfare come to an end? | Maya Goodfellow | Opinion | The Guardian: Labour failed to capitalise after the referendum when the Tories were thrown into a crisis of their own creation. Instead they created their own mess with a poorly executed coup. MPs, understandably panicked by the referendum results and worried that Jeremy Corbyn wasn’t doing well enough, paired up with those who had – as Peter Mandelson advised – been waiting for the last nine months for a moment of weakness to overthrow their leader. At a time when Labour should have been attacking the Tories and standing up for people experiencing xenophobic abuse, they were embroiled in a feud.

Sunday, July 17, 2016

Athonite Fathers call for Rejection of Cretan Council and Cessation of Commemoration of the Patriarch of Constantinople / OrthoChristian.Com

Athonite Fathers call for Rejection of Cretan Council and Cessation of Commemoration of the Patriarch of Constantinople / OrthoChristian.Com: OVER 60 Hieromonk and monks, with a disciple of Saint Paisios, Elder Gabriel of the Kelli of St. Christodoulos (Holy Monastery of Koutloumosiou) at their head, have written an open letter to the Holy Community of Mt. Athos calling upon the Abbots to reject the Council in Crete and stating their intention to cease commemoration of the Patriarch of Constantinople on account of his leadership in the "false council" at which the pan-heresy of ecumenism was given a green light and bolstered in word and deed.

We were made for these times

We were made for these times: My friends, do not lose heart. We were made for these times. I have heard from so many recently who are deeply and properly bewildered. They are concerned about the state of affairs in our world now. Ours is a time of almost daily astonishment and often righteous rage over the latest degradations of what matters most to civilized, visionary people.



You are right in your assessments. The lustre and hubris some have aspired to while endorsing acts so heinous against children, elders, everyday people, the poor, the unguarded, the helpless, is breathtaking. Yet, I urge you, ask you, gentle you, to please not spend your spirit dry by bewailing these difficult times. Especially do not lose hope. Most particularly because, the fact is that we were made for these times. Yes. For years, we have been learning, practicing, been in training for and just waiting to meet on this exact plain of engagement.

Thursday, July 14, 2016

Reported rape of dead Muslim woman evokes anger, revulsion amongst Indian Americans

Reported rape of dead Muslim woman evokes anger, revulsion amongst Indian Americans: The reaction of Indians around the world over the continuing attacks on the dignity and basic freedoms of India’s religious minorities as well as Dalits (lower-castes), has been eloquently expressed by former Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Ramdas, in a recentopen letter to the President and Prime Minister of India. Drawing the attention of the highest offices in the land to the “threats to our shared heritage,” Admiral Ramdas unequivocally separated Hinduism, the faith he was raised in, from “Hindutva, that seems to be fanning the flames of division and fear across the country.”

Thursday, July 07, 2016

KING: ISIS terrorists aren’t Muslims — they're just evil men - NY Daily News

KING: ISIS terrorists aren’t Muslims — they're just evil men - NY Daily News: Maybe you missed it since “pray for Baghdad” didn't trend on Twitter and Facebook didn’t give you the option of overlaying an Iraqi flag on your profile picture, but something truly horrific happened there Sunday morning. A suicide truck bomb tore through a busy shopping district in Baghdad. ISIS has already claimed the attack as their own.

A rational nation ruled by science would be a terrible idea | New Scientist

A rational nation ruled by science would be a terrible idea | New Scientist: “Scientism” is the belief that all we need to solve the world’s problems is – you guessed it – science. People sometimes use the phrase “rational thinking”, but it amounts to the same thing. If only people would drop religion and all their other prejudices, we could use logic to fix everything.

Last week, US astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson offered up the perfect example of scientism when he proposed the country of Rationalia, in which “all policy shall be based on the weight of evidence”.

Sunday, July 03, 2016

Assasination By Drone: America's Fatal Fallacy

Assasination By Drone: America's Fatal Fallacy: Endless hopes were pinned on Pres. Barack Obama when he entered the Oval Office in 2009. Hardly anyone back then seriously considered it possible that Obama would trump the belligerence even of Pres. George W. Bush who was seemingly hated the world over and would bomb nearly twice as many Muslim countries as his unspeakable predecessor.

Saturday, July 02, 2016

US Options in the Ukraine: Trigger a Religious War? - The Unz Review

US Options in the Ukraine: Trigger a Religious War? - The Unz Review:



The AUOC-MP is the biggest of the three. It is self-governing, but not fully independent. It is probably the biggest of the three churches and it is in full communion with all of the other “official” (read: “state approved”) Orthodox Churches out there. The AUOC-MP is viewed as the “hand of the Kremlin” by the nationalists.



The UOC-KP was founded by a former Bishop of the Moscow Patriarchate, Filaret Denisenko who created a “schism” (a unilateral separation in contradiction to the Canons of the Church) from the Moscow Patriarchate (which is ironic since Filaret was a former “deputy” (locum tenens) to Patriarch Pimen I of the Moscow Patriarchate and even considered a front-runner to succeed him). Even by Soviet standards Filaret was always known to be an exceptionally immoral, corrupt and unprincipled man, but the Moscow Patriarchate only excommunicated him when he broke-off from the MP to create his own “church”.



The UAOC is basically a 1921 creation of the Ukrainian National Republic of 1917 (just as the Moscow Patriarchate is a 1937 creation of the Bolshevik state of 1917) and it represents the “non-Soviet” version of Ukrainian Christianity, with several of its clergymen have been persecuted by the Soviet state.

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

#SafetyPin: The simple way you can show solidarity with the UK's foreign-born population

#SafetyPin: The simple way you can show solidarity with the UK's foreign-born population: Vote Leave's campaign was tainted by accusations of racist dog-whistling: a poster unveiled by Ukip featuring an edited photograph of refugees came under particularly heavy criticism for its likeness to Nazi propaganda.

And sadly, as Tory MP Simon Hoare put it in the Commons yesterday, a "racism genie" appears to have been let out of the bottle as a consequence.

The National Police Chiefs' Council said on Monday there had been a 57 per cent rise in reports to an online hate crime reporting site between Thursday and Sunday compared to a month ago.

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Don't blame Brexit on working-class anger - it's more worrying than that

Don't blame Brexit on working-class anger - it's more worrying than that: Brexit was a rejection of British multiculturalism. That is the real take-home message of the Ashcroft polls. Of those who see themselves as "English not British", 80 per cent voted to Leave, irrespective of social class. Those who see themselves as "British not English" voted 60 per cent for Remain.

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Mbeki's chilling warning in 2007: A virus is eating up the ANC from the inside | Politics | RDM

Mbeki's chilling warning in 2007: A virus is eating up the ANC from the inside | Politics | RDM: I would like to cite a vitally important observation our Secretary General made in his Organisational Report to our 51st National Conference, five years ago.

He said: "We have also reported to the NGC (held in 2000), on the challenges being in power has on the structures of the movement. We found that the issues dividing the leadership of some of our provinces are not of a political nature, but have mainly revolved around access to resources, positioning themselves or others to access resources, dispensing patronage and in the process using organisational structures to further these goals.

"This often lies at the heart of conflicts between (ANC) constitutional and governance structures, especially at local level and is reflected in contestations around lists, deployment and the internal elections process of the movement. These practices tarnish the image and effectiveness of the movement.

"The limited political consciousness (among some of our members) has impacted negatively on our capacity to root out corrupt and divisive elements among ourselves. For the movement to renew itself as a revolutionary movement, we have to develop specific political, organisational and administrative measures to deal with such destructive elements."

Nelson Mandela also drew our attention to this challenge when he opened our 50th National Conference in 1997. Among other things he said: "One of these negative features is the emergence of careerism within our ranks. Many among our members see their membership of the ANC as a means to advance their personal ambitions to attain positions of power and access to resources for their own individual gratification.

"Accordingly, they work to manipulate the movement to create the conditions for their success.

Wednesday, June 08, 2016

Google is Recording Everything You Say — Here’s How to Hear It, Delete It, and Stop It | The Daily Liberator

Google is Recording Everything You Say — Here’s How to Hear It, Delete It, and Stop It | The Daily Liberator: Thanks to a function of their search software, Google could have years worth of your conversations recorded, and you can hear it for yourself. Your cringe-worthy history can be heard and viewed along with a list of all your searches, at your personal Google history page.

Monday, June 06, 2016

Notable.ca | Big Surprise: Harvard Study Shows that Sarcasm is Actually Good for You

Notable.ca | Big Surprise: Harvard Study Shows that Sarcasm is Actually Good for You: Data from a recent study entitled, The Highest Form of Intelligence: Sarcasm Increases Creativity for Both Expressers and Recipients, suggests that the delivery and deciphering of sarcasm offers psychological benefits that have been largely underappreciated and long overlooked.

Thursday, June 02, 2016

When Being Pro-Life Did Not Mean Being Conservative | Religion & Politics

When Being Pro-Life Did Not Mean Being Conservative | Religion & Politics: Most of the pre-Roe pro-life activists were Catholics with liberal political sympathies shaped by their Church’s social justice teachings and the New Deal. They viewed their campaign to save the lives of the unborn as a human rights cause, which is why much of their rhetoric closely paralleled the language of the civil rights and anti-war movements.

Saturday, May 28, 2016

The Heavy Anglo-Orthodox: The war in Iraq was a war on truth

The Heavy Anglo-Orthodox: The war in Iraq was a war on truth: The Iraq War was a hubristic demonstration, a demonstration of the Antichrist, that the truth itself is something that must be subjected to the human will, that it is human will that shapes reality and not the other way around.

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

How Charles Williams combined the occult with Christian faith | The Christian Century

How Charles Williams combined the occult with Christian faith | The Christian Century: Shadows of a saint

Charles Williams’s magical Christianity
May 12, 2016 by Philip Jenkins

In 1963, W. H. Auden reported his weary experiences on a lucrative U.S. lecture tour in the wry poem “On the Circuit.” It was grim maintaining a smiling face while meeting so many gushing strangers, but occasionally there was “a blessed encounter, full of joy . . . With, here, an addict of Tolkien / There, a Charles Williams fan.” The number of devotees of J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis proliferated enormously over the following decades, and that boundless enthusiasm spilled over to any and all of their associates, including Williams. A rising tide lifted all Inklings

Monday, May 23, 2016

Louis van Gaal says 'it's over' with Jose Mourinho tipped to take over at Manchester United | Football News | Sky Sports

Louis van Gaal says 'it's over' with Jose Mourinho tipped to take over at Manchester United | Football News | Sky Sports: United have no plans for a victory parade in Manchester, and the club are believed to be angry that news of Mourinho's potential appointment has overshadowed the club's first FA Cup win since 2004 and first piece of silverware since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson.

Saturday, May 21, 2016

Community stands against farm attacks | Vryheid Herald

Community stands against farm attacks | Vryheid Herald: FOLLOWING the brutal murder of Billy Van Rooyen and his father in law Ronnie Lombard, the community members of Zwathi took to the streets saying ‘enough is enough’.

These members of the ward 4 community headed down to the Gluckstadt Police Station to hand over a memorandum regarding their concerns over the rise in crime in their area.

The main issue raised in the memorandum was that of the killing of farmers, which in turn has a negative influence on the community’s infrastructure as many of those working on the farms lose their jobs.

Monday, May 16, 2016

He Carefully Places Sponges Inside His Fridge… The Reason? This Is Pure GENIUS!

He Carefully Places Sponges Inside His Fridge… The Reason? This Is Pure GENIUS!:

  • How to quickly and easily peel a lot of garlic cloves by shaking them in a container
  • Keep your vegetables fresh by keeping sponges in your refrigerator vegetable drawer
  • Cleaning your shoes with toothpaste
  • Disinfect your cutting board while eliminating odor with a vinegar solution
  • Speed up the drying of your laundry by adding tennis balls to your load

Friday, May 06, 2016

Neoliberalism – the ideology at the root of all our problems | Books | The Guardian

Neoliberalism – the ideology at the root of all our problems | Books | The Guardian: So pervasive has neoliberalism become that we seldom even recognise it as an ideology. We appear to accept the proposition that this utopian, millenarian faith describes a neutral force; a kind of biological law, like Darwin’s theory of evolution. But the philosophy arose as a conscious attempt to reshape human life and shift the locus of power.

Neoliberalism sees competition as the defining characteristic of human relations. It redefines citizens as consumers, whose democratic choices are best exercised by buying and selling, a process that rewards merit and punishes inefficiency. It maintains that “the market” delivers benefits that could never be achieved by planning.

Thursday, April 21, 2016

Distributism from the East

Distributism from the East: Distributism premises its economic principle of subsidiarity with the ethical principle of solidarity; as such an exploration of what economic justice is to the Orthodox is needed in order to see if it aligns with Distributism’s views. Saint Basil the Great has much to say on the topic of economic justice. For instance, he says in his homily “I Will Tear Down my Barns” that the rich “have been made minister[s] of God’s goodness, a steward of your fellow servants”2 and as such should not hoard what they have but use the money to help others. He further ties justice and economic activity together in his homily “To the Rich” when he says that wherever the rich man turns he will “behold the apparitions of [his] evil acts … the tears of the orphan, there the groaning of widow….”3 driving home that one’s economic actions have both real victims and spiritual consequences. The fact that St. Basil humanizes the poor and gives them identities (orphans and widows) is remarkable for a time period where the poor where generally viewed as a faceless mass for the rich to dump their excess wealth on if they decided to practice charity. In modern Capitalist countries the economic realities often make it easier to see the poor in the later manner, but in a Distributist society with its focus on subsidiarity and solidarity, we would be better able to see them in the former light.

Thursday, March 24, 2016

Five Things You Need Know About the Attacks From a Peace Activist in Brussels

Five Things You Need Know About the Attacks From a Peace Activist in Brussels: “We are going to go after them,” Obama said a couple of hours after the terrorist attacks. Really? When?

We know, for example, that the real people fighting ISIS at the moment are the Kurds in Kobane and other cities. We know that helping and supporting them, while cutting the route of ISIS’s oil to Turkey, would deal a huge blow to the so-called Islamic State. Are we doing it? Not at all.

Supporting Turkey, a crucial actor in this whole story with Machiavellian policies on the ground, is a major factor in the ongoing violence.

Saturday, March 19, 2016

Theology and Racial Justice with J. Kameron Carter

Theology and Racial Justice with J. Kameron Carter: Get a deeper understanding of racial justice by examining its theological roots. In this course, theologian and author J. Kameron Carter reveals and explains many of the theological underpinnings of racial injustice.

The journey toward racial justice in North America cannot be fully undertaken without a grasp of the theological implications underlying both its origins and development.

Monday, March 14, 2016

South Africa's rising tide of racial profiling | Politics | RDM

South Africa's rising tide of racial profiling | Politics | RDM: Black thinkers need to prick the bubble of black triumphalism if South Africa wants to progress. Afrikaners should prick their hedonism bubble and confront their history of violent submission of black people and land grabs, and English speakers need to understand that their jingoist monolingualism, which is as exclusionary as the worst Afrikaner racism, will only deepen the inequality already bedevilling our common future.

Sunday, March 13, 2016

The Geography of Trumpism - NYTimes.com

The Geography of Trumpism - NYTimes.com: When the Census Bureau asks Americans about their ancestors, some respondents don’t give a standard answer like “English” or “German.” Instead, they simply answer “American.”

The places with high concentrations of these self-described Americans turn out to be the places Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has performed the strongest.

Sunday, March 06, 2016

You really, really have to stop correcting the grammar of racists ranting about 'Muslins' on Facebook | Voices | The Independent

You really, really have to stop correcting the grammar of racists ranting about 'Muslins' on Facebook | Voices | The Independent: Fighting racism is virtuous; making someone feel bad because they don’t know about apostrophes is not. It is the same instinct that drives racism: the instinct to dominate, to denigrate, and to attack people rather than ideas.

Thursday, March 03, 2016

Internet changing face of theology schools

Internet changing face of theology schools: Journalists, taxi drivers, musicians and motels have all had their economic apple carts upset by the Internet. Theology professors are discovering they too are not immune from the game-changing, democratizing effect of the world wide web.

Ever since the Council of Trent mandated seminaries to train priests, the only way to become theologically literate has been to enrol in a university, faithfully attend all the lectures and seminars, write the papers, debate with fellow students and pass the final exam. All of this had to happen in a classroom, on a campus.

No more.

Tuesday, March 01, 2016

Chant Matters - Compline at St Mark's Cathedral, Seattle - What is in Kelvin's Head?

Chant Matters - Compline at St Mark's Cathedral, Seattle - What is in Kelvin's Head?: That service breaks almost (and that almost is important, as we shall see) rule in the How to Attract Young People Big Book of Church Growth.

The building is as close to hideous as makes no odds.
The choir sing from behind a pillar and can’t be seen.
You don’t get a service sheet on the way in. You don’t in fact get anything.
The service is uncompromisingly old fashioned.
The service is based around Plainsong Chant.
There are no guitars. Not one.
It is unaccompanied by anything.
You don’t get to do anything.
You don’t sing.
You don’t speak.
You don’t engage.
You don’t form community.

And still they come. Hundreds of them. Every week they come.

Sunday, February 21, 2016

The Return of Public Vulgarity

The Return of Public Vulgarity: It may appear that this disintegration is counteracted by the growth of political correctness, which prescribes exactly what cannot be said; however, a closer look immediately makes it clear how the "politically correct" regulation participates in the same process of the disintegration of the ethical substance. To prove this point, it suffices to recall the deadlock of political correctness: The need for PC rules arises when unwritten mores are no longer able to regulate effectively everyday interactions—instead of spontaneous customs followed in a nonreflexive way, we get explicit rules, such as when “torture” becomes an “enhanced interrogation technique.”

The crucial point is that torture—brutal violence practiced by the state—was made publicly acceptable at the very moment when public language was rendered politically correct in order to protect victims from symbolic violence. These two phenomena are two sides of the same coin.

Saturday, February 20, 2016

‘We Think the Price Is Worth It’ — FAIR

‘We Think the Price Is Worth It’ — FAIR:

Lesley Stahl on U.S. sanctions against Iraq: We have heard that a half million children have died. I mean, that’s more children than died in Hiroshima. And, you know, is the price worth it?



Secretary of State Madeleine Albright: I think this is a very hard choice, but the price–we think the price is worth it.



—60 Minutes (5/12/96)



Saturday, February 13, 2016

A Comedy of Terrors: When in Doubt, Bomb Syria

A Comedy of Terrors: When in Doubt, Bomb Syria:



Sanders’ policy on Syria is na�ve to the point of doltishness. But Hillary’s Syrian war plan—shared by most of her Republican rivals—borders on the pathological. Having not missed a minute of sleep haunted by the corpses of Libya, Mrs. Clinton is now stumping for the dismantling of Syria, using the carefully cultivated domestic anxiety over ISIS as the pretext. The cornerstone of Hillary’s rogue scheme is the imposition of a no fly zone over that embattled country.

Sounds like a relatively benign plan, right? But wait. ISIS doesn’t have an air force. They don’t even a have drone. Russia, of course, is flying daily sorties in Syrian air space, at the invitation of the Syrian government, such as it is, and some kind of confrontation would be inevitable. Still, Hillary doesn’t flinch. She has zealously vowed to shoot down any Russian plane that violated her unilateral ban.

Friday, February 12, 2016

SUNDAY TIMES - From SONA to Zika: 10 things that happened this week you should know about

SUNDAY TIMES - From SONA to Zika: 10 things that happened this week you should know about: The State of the Nation Address may be focused on political topics but with every important event come important fashion moments. From Thuli Madonsela's canary yellow gown to the long gold dress of Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba's wife, Noma, designer Gert-Johan Coetzee dominated the red carpet. Here are our best and worst looks from the night.



SONA 2016 fail | News24:
Watching this #SONA2016 has been the biggest joke, thus far nothing has
come of it, all it's been is a fashion show and a debate on the rules
of the house!

We the people are slave to this joke of a house they call parliament!

For heaven sakes dear lord please help this country and its people cause
we are getting nothing from the people who are meant to better the
country!



Far From Narnia - The New Yorker

Far From Narnia - The New Yorker:

Although he likes Lewis’s criticism and quotes it surprisingly often, he considers the fantasy series “morally loathsome.” In a 1998 essay for the Guardian, entitled “The Dark Side of Narnia,” he condemned “the misogyny, the racism, the sado-masochistic relish for violence that permeates the whole cycle.” He reviled Lewis for depicting the character Susan Pevensie’s sexual coming of age—suggested by her interest in “nylons and lipstick and invitations”—as grounds for exclusion from paradise. In Pullman’s view, the “Chronicles,” which end with the rest of the family’s ascension to a neo-Platonic version of Narnia after they die in a railway accident, teach that “death is better than life; boys are better than girls . . . and so on. There is no shortage of such nauseating drivel in Narnia, if you can face it.”

Don’t go changing: The gaping silence

Don’t go changing � The gaping silence:

To be virtuous, in other words, is to do good not because it’s good but because it’s right: to judge your actions by criteria entirely different from the question of whether other people benefit or suffer from them.

It’s this abstract, disciplined calculus of virtue which is threatened by the onset of nylons and lipstick and invitations. For Lewis, growing up – becoming a sexual being, not to put too fine a point on it – was a fall from grace, not because adulthood meant living in sin but because it meant living in the world. The world we know, Lewis believed, is only a poor shadow of a real world we can only know through the imagination.

The Ramshackle Vampire: Sorry, Ladies, C.S. Lewis Finds You Tedious and Icky

The Ramshackle Vampire: Sorry, Ladies, C.S. Lewis Finds You Tedious and Icky:

An episode in the final book that Lewis's readers call “the problem of Susan” thus becomes multiply alarming: it brings sexuality (teenage romance) into the series and then condemns it, and the women who express it. In The Last Battle (1956), Susan Pevensie was denied re-admission into Narnia – and thus allegorically into Heaven – because she dared develop an interest in “makeup” and “boys,” neither of which left her time for Narnia or Aslan. Several authors have subsequently addressed Lewis's callous dismissal of Susan in their own stories. Ana Mardoll last month drew her followers' attention to a recent and curiously moving addition to this Susan Pevensie subgenre, “Elegant and Fine” by T. Kingfisher (alias Ursula Vernon).

Tuesday, February 09, 2016

Politics: Madeleine Albright: There's a special place in Hell for women who don't support Hillary | Best of Cain

Politics: Madeleine Albright: There's a special place in Hell for women who don't support Hillary | Best of Cain:



Would it be taking this whole thing way too seriously if I bothered to correct the horrendous theology? I think so. It's not so much that the threat of eternal damnation is alluded to here. That's just Madeleine Albright being a presumptuous blowhard. But I do think she's trying to do something serious when she basically tells every woman in America they have no business not supporting Hillary for president:

There's Also a 'Special Place in Hell' for Madeleine Albright

There's Also a 'Special Place in Hell' for Madeleine Albright:



Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is making headlines today after her appearance at a Hillary Clinton rally. Standing beside a laughing Clinton, she said “There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help each other.”

What isn’t making headlines is the irony of someone who was responsible for the deaths of 2,000 civilians, including 88 children, pretending to have any moral judgement whatsoever.

Saturday, February 06, 2016

Apartheid-era murder of sleeping teenagers returns to haunt De Klerk | World news | The Guardian

Apartheid-era murder of sleeping teenagers returns to haunt De Klerk | World news | The Guardian:



Mr de Klerk has not denied ordering the 1993 raid, in which the five boys were killed, on what was described as a Pan Africanist Congress safe house used to plan "terrorist attacks".

After the attack, the military said the dead were men who were armed and shooting but photographs of the scene showed the boys still in their beds, riddled with bullets and no guns in sight. Mr de Klerk later described the killings as a tragic mistake.

Tuesday, February 02, 2016

londinoupolis: The Holy Abbess and Wonder-worker Saint Brigid of Kildare, Ireland

londinoupolis: The Holy Abbess and Wonder-worker Saint Brigid of Kildare, Ireland:



According to tradition, Saint Brigid (Brigit, Bridget) was born at Fochart (or Fothairt), near Dundalk of County Louth in Ulster, of a noble Irish family, which had been converted by Saint Patrick. A wonderful striving for virtue was seen in her from her earliest years. Being uncommonly beautiful, she had many suitors and her father tried to marry her to the King of Ulster. At the age of sixteen, she implored Our Lord Jesus Christ, whom alone she desired as her spouse, to make her unattractive, so that no longer would anyone want to marry her. Her prayer was heard; she lost an eye, and was allowed to enter a monastery. However, on the very day that she took the veil, she was miraculously healed and recovered her original loveliness, which was now set off by spiritual beauty.

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Wheaton Faculty Council Unanimously Asks College To Keep Lary... | Gleanings | ChristianityToday.com

Wheaton Faculty Council Unanimously Asks College To Keep Lary... | Gleanings | ChristianityToday.com:



Update (Jan. 22): At a public listening session yesterday, Wheaton provost Stanton Jones presented his own answer to the question that started the current controversy: Do Christians and Muslims worship the same God?

"Ontologically all monotheists affirm that there can only be one divine being, and it seems logical to me that there must be some referential overlap or similarity in the divine being that each is referring to in each of the monotheistic religions," said Jones, according to a transcript posted by The Wheaton Record.

Orthodox Christian Initiative for Africa: Capitalism, Protestant Ethics & Orthodox Tradition

Orthodox Christian Initiative for Africa: Capitalism, Protestant Ethics & Orthodox Tradition:



Orthodoxy is not linked to metaphysics. We saw in the previous analysis that the spirit of Capitalism, as analysed by Max Weber, is very closely linked to the theory of predestination, which is one of the characteristic marks of metaphysics. Of course, the term metaphysics includes many other aspects that will not be analysed here.
We could preferably say that Orthodoxy is anti-metaphysical. The centre of Orthodox anthropology is not the “orthos logos” (the appropriate word, reasoning). Without abolishing logic, Orthodoxy transcends it through a revelation by God, which is beyond all reasoning and not against reasoning.
The theory of predestination is rejected by the theology of the Fathers of the Church. God does not violate man’s freedom and those who wish can become sons of God. In Orthodoxy there is no “aristocracy of the pious”. When man follows a specific method of therapy, he can even reach the state of theoptia (the ‘sight’ of God). Thus, he comes to know God, he acquires selfless love and loves the entire world. Just as medical science cannot be metaphysical, so Orthodox theology cannot be metaphysical.

Monday, January 25, 2016

THICK END OF THE WEDGE: Mkhize to thank for Zuma turnaround | Columnists | BDlive

THICK END OF THE WEDGE: Mkhize to thank for Zuma turnaround | Columnists | BDlive:



Zuma, though, couldn’t see the problem, so some or all (certainly enough members) of the meeting told him bluntly if he continued to imperil the future of the country they would withdraw their support of him as leader of the party. That got through. It was a political threat, not an economics lecture, and Zuma understood it instantly.

Saturday, January 23, 2016

UPD “It’s Kids drowning in the Aegean, stupid!” – 42 Migrants dead in two boat incidents, among them 17 children

UPD “It’s Kids drowning in the Aegean, stupid!” – 42 Migrants dead in two boat incidents, among them 17 children:



While refugees keep drowning in the cold waters of the Aegean Sea trying to flee the war, thousands of kilometers away, in snowy Davos, political and economic leaders meet in cosy chalets and try to find solutions to the world and European problems.

Panicked by the refugees and migrants flow that doesn’t come into a halt despite the winter conditions, the EU leaders raise fences and close their borders, while others like Denmark or Germany “strip the refugees’ of their money and valuable assets to have them self-finance” the honor of finding shelter in their countries.

Thursday, January 21, 2016

800 Free eBooks for iPad, Kindle & Other Devices | Open Culture

800 Free eBooks for iPad, Kindle & Other Devices | Open Culture: Download 800 free eBooks to your Kindle, iPad/iPhone, computer, smart phone or ereader. Collection includes great works of fiction, non-fiction and poetry, including works by Asimov, Jane Austen, Philip K. Dick, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Neil Gaiman, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Shakespeare, Ernest Hemingway, Virginia Woolf & James Joyce. Also please see our collection 700 Free Audio Books: Download Great Books for Free, where you can download more great books to your computer or mp3 player.

A truly liberal society would tolerate the Anglican church's views on sexuality - Spectator Blogs

A truly liberal society would tolerate the Anglican church's views on sexuality - Spectator Blogs: The preposterous claim that the contemporary church’s view of marriage is like supporting slavery is still worth deconstructing. There are only two ways you could plausibly make this argument. First, if today’s church supported using the coercive power of the state to uphold its teaching on marriage. Secondly, if the church – simply by teaching traditional views on sexuality – is indirectly responsible for persecuting homosexuals.

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Refrain from Anger: On Anglican Bigotry | The Sub-Dean's Stall

Refrain from Anger: On Anglican Bigotry | The Sub-Dean's Stall: The Episcopal Church – this supposedly high-minded and elevated form of rational Christianity – has succumbed to the nastiest abusiveness of fellow Christians. Whether it is the veiled racism of referring to “the Africans” or the copious use of various forms of the word “bigot” or casting the acts of the Primates as devious and underhanded – we are reacting in ways entirely out of proportion to the sanction that we have received.

We are reacting in ways that actually imperil communion – in ways that are more dangerous than a sanction or reprimand from the institutional arm of the Church. The Church is the Body. It is a mystical union as well as an institutional entity. Our reactions – our words and deeds – have the potential to undermine the mystical union we share for we are literally saying to one part of the Body, “We have no need of you.”

Monday, January 18, 2016

Syrian endgame could begin with Aleppo - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

Syrian endgame could begin with Aleppo - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East: This column has warned for more than two years of the campaign to mainstream radical jihadi groups under the rubric of the “moderate” Syria opposition. This trend has done a disservice to the true secular, democratic opposition that rose against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2011. In November 2015, we advocated keeping Ahrar al-Sham out of the Syrian political process, despite the group’s purported influence “on the ground,” which is at least in part due to its collaboration with the al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group. Unfortunately, Syrian democrats can’t rely on the largesse of regional patrons who don’t mind a sectarian edge to the anti-Assad military campaign. Even prominent former American diplomats are ready to welcome Ahrar al-Sham and their fellow jihadi travelers into the peace fold, as long as there is some tactical divergence with Jabhat al-Nusra and these groups are willing to “engage” with the West.

Sunday, January 17, 2016

How to Fail at Family History Research in 10 Simple Steps | Family History Daily

Yes, we've all made most of these mistakes, many times. but I was saved from the first two to a large extent.



I was saved from the first by the friend, visiting from overseas, who sold me on the joys of ancestor hunting. When I said I was interested, he said "Have you got any aunts or uncles living nearby?" And we went to see an aunt I hadn't seen for 10 years, who had my grandparents' marriage certificate, and as we left he said to me, "They always know more than they think they do."



And I was saved from the second because no one had personal computers in those days and Ancestry.com did not exist.



How to Fail at Family History Research in 10 Simple Steps | Family History Daily:

How to ‘Fail’ at Family History Research in 10 Simple Steps



  • Step 1. Jump right into your family’s history without taking the time to talk to any of your relatives. Whatever you do, do not ask parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles or cousins what they know about your family’s past.

  • Step 2. Get a subscription to Ancestry.com and never, ever leave their site. Do not, under any circumstances, check out the many free genealogy websites that contain oodles of unique, helpful information.

But the rest of the mistakes I have made many times, and still do. Read them and be warned.


Saturday, January 16, 2016

Blaming the Africans: Cultural Imperialism and the Meeting of the Primates | Thicket of the Jordan

Blaming the Africans: Cultural Imperialism and the Meeting of the Primates | Thicket of the Jordan: when the Anglican Communion does gather to discuss issues of theology and Africans repeat the official teaching of the Communion and the teaching of the vast majority of Christians everywhere, they are rebuked for taking the focus away from the common mission (of African economic development) that unites the Communion. We seem to be confused as to how those Africans would dare do this after we have spent the last thirty years congratulating ourselves for granting the aid that we have made the basis of our common life. We cannot understand why they would be so divisive and on the wrong side of our definition of justice.

Monday, January 11, 2016

Harry Potter vs. Huckleberry Finn: Why the British Tell Better Children’s Stories Than Americans - The Atlantic

Harry Potter vs. Huckleberry Finn: Why the British Tell Better Children’s Stories Than Americans - The Atlantic: If Harry Potter and Huckleberry Finn were each to represent British versus American children’s literature, a curious dynamic would emerge: In a literary duel for the hearts and minds of children, one is a wizard-in-training at a boarding school in the Scottish Highlands, while the other is a barefoot boy drifting down the Mississippi, beset by con artists, slave hunters, and thieves. One defeats evil with a wand, the other takes to a raft to right a social wrong. Both orphans took over the world of English-language children’s literature, but their stories unfold in noticeably different ways.

U.S. Dropped 23,144 Bombs on Muslim-Majority Countries in 2015 | Alternet

U.S. Dropped 23,144 Bombs on Muslim-Majority Countries in 2015 | Alternet: Nobel Peace Prize-winner President Obama dropped a serious amount of ordnance last year.